Evelyn Belnap

On a beautiful spring day, having earned her reward, our sweet angel mother passed away peacefully from this life to the next. Among the hosts of heaven waiting to greet her on the other side of the veil were her eternal companion, her parents, and her baby brother. Oh what a joyful reunion it was!
Evelyn Layton Belnap was born June 26th 1921, to Ivan Winegar Layton and Evelyn Mann Layton in Syracuse, Utah at the home of her maternal grandmother. Due to the circumstances of her birth, which is an amazing miracle, no one would have guessed at the time, that she would remain on this earth for 92 years.
Mom was an active member in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all her life and has served in many capacities including the Young Women’s organization, the Primary, as a Relief Society President, ward librarian and ward historian. She always went the extra mile in all her callings and she was loved and revered by many. She was truly a grand lady.
She met and started dating our Dad, Keith E. Belnap while attending Granite High School. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity October 18th 1940. They had three children together and lived a simple, yet happy life full of love and many happy memories. They had the privilege to serve a mission for the Church in the London Leeds mission, which resulted in the meeting of Lynne Howarth who has been like an adopted daughter to them throughout their lives.
Mother was passionate about two things in life; her family and her life’s work at the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum where she worked full time for 26 years. She loved her heritage, and her job at the museum became a labor of love, preserving the stories and the artifacts of the pioneers who came west to settle the Salt Lake Valley. This become her purpose and her joy in life and brought her much fulfillment during her senior years until her declining health forced her to retire at the young age of 89.
For the last 10 years, Mom resided with her daughters; first with Janeen and then with Gayle who so lovingly cared for Mom for the last two years of her life, making sure that all of her needs and desires were met. She was most comfortable in her own home (her dying wish) where she died Friday, April 11th 2014, while Gayle held her hand as she took her last breath.
Mom is survived by her three children and her three amazing in-law children who cared for her as their own mother; Clint and Lela Belnap, Gayle and Jerome Badura, Mark and Janeen Sheffield, Lynne and Richard Isaaksen, and their six children who also called her ” grandma”; twelve grandchildren, forty-six great grandchildren, and one great-great granddaughter.
A viewing will be held Friday, April 18th from 6 to 8:00 P.M. for friends and family at Russon Brothers Mortuary in Bountiful. The funeral will be Saturday April 19th at the Porter Lane Chapel in located on Porter Lane (400 S.) and 400 W. in Centerville at 1:00 P.M. with a viewing before the services beginning at 11:45 A.M. Interment will be at the Bountiful Cemetery.